


The Knight and the Moon

by JokingMasochist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, Kissing, Post-Battle, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 14:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10362444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JokingMasochist/pseuds/JokingMasochist
Summary: Neville and Luna come down from the Battle of Hogwarts together.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I am writing this on my phone, so apologies for weird word substitutions or other typos.

Neville sat alone in the Great Hall, just as he had sat in that grand room full of people, yet alone, so many times before. It didn't bother him, particularly today. Being alone did not require words, like how herbology, or lopping a giant snake in half with a goblin-made sword didn't require words. Of course there were people he wanted to find, but what could be said when he did? "Voldemort is dead," or "Looks like the war is over," hardly needed to be said, and after that, nothing else seemed to matter.

A movement to his left caused the boy, now battle-hardened into a man, to look up. Luna sat next to him, and everything felt like a dream. He moved the sword in his hand, which definitely still felt real, then looked back at Luna with a small smile. Her usual dreamy expression seemed only tired, and he wondered if she also felt like this might be a dream. He felt a soft touch on his hand, and looked at his best friend, taking her hand in his. 

It was nice, holding hands, but not enough. Neville scooted closer and wrapped both arms around Luna, not caring that the sword was still in his hand, because he couldn't let it go, but holding Luna was at least as important. 

His adrenaline left him suddenly, and his body shook, and memories of the battle assaulted his attention too quickly for his mind to keep up. Shaking, he buried his head into Luna's soft and warm shoulder, gripping the sword so tightly that his hand would later bruise, and tried to force himself to breathe. 

Luna was pleasantly surprised when Neville hugged her, but mostly relieved that he was alive. Sure, he'd been brave, and saved a lot of people, and stood up to Voldemort himself like the stupidly macho Gryffindor he sometimes allowed himself to be, but he was still Neville Longbottom, the guy who had always been nice to her and stood up for her and been one of her best friends and now he was crying into her shoulder.

She held on tightly and softly petted the side of his head that wasn't matted with blood, and wondered if she needed to tell him that she loves him, because it's important, but he probably already knows, and Luna likes to tell people things that they didn't know before. "You know, Neville," she said softly, when his sobs had died down but he was still shaky, "I'm very glad you didn't die today, because I would probably go mad if I lost you."

Neville sniffed and withdrew a little to wipe his dirty, bloody, and wet face on the sleeve his even dirtier sweater, then pulled Luna close to his chest. "Hey Luna, you know I love you, right?" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear and nobody else.

"Yes, and I'm sure you know that I love you too," she replied softly, pulling back to look into Neville's eyes with her penetrating gaze, "But I do mean that I probably would have gone quite mad if I'd lost you too."

If he hadn't literally just fought a battle with a sword in his hand, Neville's heart would have been racing as he leaned forward and kissed Luna on the forehead. "I was thinking about you when I broke the silence. You always say what you're going to say, whether or not anyone wants to hear it. It's one of my favorite things about you, and something I learned from you. Someone needed to tell him to his face that he was wrong, and there was no reason for it not to be me."

"It was still foolish," a voice cut in from outside their embrace. Both looked up to see an ancient woman with a ferocious looking dead bird on her head, and a smile on an otherwise intimidating face. "I'm proud of you, Neville, and your parents would say the same thing if they'd seen you standing up to him."

Neville quickly untangled from Luna and stood up, momentarily at a loss for words. "G-g-g-Gran, th-this is Luna Lovegood. Luna, this is Augusta Longbottom, my grandmother."

Luna smiled and extended an arm for a handshake. "It's nice to meet you. You're less scary-looking than I thought you'd be."

Neville looked like he wanted to slip through a crack in the floor, but his Gran just cackled as she shook Luna's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, dear. Let me know if my grandson gives you any trouble; he may have stood up to Voldemort himself, but I can still whoop him. Now, I need to catch up with Minerva and brag about my grandson and his girlfriend." 

She swooped off faster than either could make a comment, and both stared off after her before turning to smile at each other. Luna's look turned thoughtful, and Neville spoke up, "Shall we find someplace a bit more private to continue our conversation?"

Luna nodded silently and grabbed Neville by the hand, pulling him along behind her as she wound through the croud, then around rubble and secret passageways until they were sitting in a small room in part of the castle that was rarely used. She regarded him quietly as he fiddled with the sword and finally put it down. 

"When you said that you'd go mad if you lost me... Why? 'Mad' doesn't seem like a word that you would throw around lightly, and mostly, why me?" Neville looked up to meet Luna's gaze, only to see that she had looked away and was staring out the window. 

Several silent minutes passed, which felt like an eternity to Neville, but he respected that Luna was taking her time to sort out ways to answer in her Ravenclaw way. "I trust you, even though I don't think I trust anyone else anymore. You're the only person I know who never hurts innocent life or stands by to let someone else get hurt. It doesn't help that you seem to be the only person who actually likes me, rather than just putting up with 'Loony Lovegood,' daughter of cowardly Xenophilius and dead Pandora, because it's the right or convenient thing to do. I don't love you because you're the only person who is always there for me; I love you for the part of your character that causes it, because you are definitely unique in that."

Neville sat in stunned silence to process that, taking longer than Luna did to formulate his swirling thoughts into words. "I'm not the only one; what about Ginny? And your father seemed alright from what you've told me about him. I know Ron can be a bit rough, but there's Hermione, Harry..." He reached over to hold her hand, rubbing his thumb in circles.

"I was captured by the Death Eaters. That's why I didn't come back to school. Harry, Ron, and Hermione busted me out, but only because they happened to be thrown into the same dungeon, not because they were looking for me. I'm not saying that what they were doing wasn't important, but you go out of your way to help people. Anyway, I had been captured as leverage against my father and his publications, so rather than come up with any sort of plan to resist, he gave in to all of their demands, published what they told him to, and even tried to help them capture our friends. I've been staying with Bill and Fluer Weasley, but stopped by my house and saw the recent Quibbler issues and figured out the rest. He should have at least realized that it wouldn't have made a difference." Luna started crying during her last sentence, and Neville quickly wrapped her in his arms.

He wanted to ask what the difference was supposed to be, since that seemed to be what upset her, but that was also the reason he couldn't ask. He hadn't seen Luna cry even once. Not during detention with the Carrows, not after dealing with bullies, not even when she was telling him about her mother. Luna was probably the toughest person he knew, so something awful must have happened during the captivity. He tried to think of what he would have done if they'd successfully captured Gran, and couldn't think of a situation in which he'd give in. Either he would keep up the Hogwarts resistance, or temporarily leave Hogwarts to rescue her, then continue resisting. "I'm sorry, Luna. I had no idea where they were keeping you. I'm so sorry." 

Luna clung to him, but shook her head. "If you hadn't been here, they might have actually killed someone. At the very least, more people would have been tortured. You wouldn't have been able to rescue me even if you did know where I was." 

The stereotypical Gryffindor would have argued their bravado, but Neville quietly held his best friend until she stopped crying completely, and then some, before giving her another forehead kiss. Luna almost giggled, "I like when you kiss my forehead. It chases away the nargles."

Neville leaned back to make eye contact with his best friend, raising an eyebrow. "Does that mean you want me to kiss you more, and does that only apply to forehead kisses?"

In answer, Luna pulled him closer and planted her mouth on his.


End file.
